Since owning my iPhone, my consumption of music has changed, making my concerns about storage space almost irrelevant. I mainly listen to Pandora and WunderRadio, which costs about $6. I hate paying for apps but this is one I highly recommend.

The iPhone and iPod sometimes get criticized for a lack of an FM Tuner. WunderRadio overcomes that by making streaming of online radio as easy as changing a station. For a one time price of $6 (non of that monthly fee BS), you can get access to radio stations all over the world. I use it to listen to WJFK and ESPN 980 in DC.

WunderRadio is able to access all of your favorite terrestrial radio stations as well online through  RadioTime.   It uses the built-in GPS of the iPhone to find your local stations as a default. Plus, you can access any major radio station anywhere in the US.  Definitely worth checking out.   Who needs satellite radio?

Here are a quick list of features of the app from the website:

Popcorn 3 is equipped with a variety of innovative features designed to simplify and accelerate the otherwise time consuming and CPU intensive video conversion process, including Automatic TiVoToGo™ Conversion that starts encoding as soon as the TV show is transferred to the Mac, Batch DVD-Video Conversion that enables consumers to queue up multiple DVDs for use with Roxio’s Fit-to-DVD™ technology, and Pause and Resume buttons that enable users to suspend a disc copy or video conversion project, work on a different task, then resume when convenient.

To reduce time spent on multiple conversions and to ensure end-results meet expectations, Popcorn 3 comes with Video Quality Preview that enables consumers to review a snippet of converted video to check video quality prior to initiating the full encoding process. Popcorn 3 also supports Elgato’s Turbo.264 for faster video encoding. Popcorn 3 users can now create DVD’s up to four hours long, resulting in fewer discs and decreasing the amount of time required for video-project transfer.

The application also includes a rich disc labeling application that enables users to create personalized disc labels or print directly onto discs using LightScribe enabled burners and media. Built on the award-winning Toast burning technology, Popcorn 3 continues to provide consumers with a quick and easy way to copy and enjoy their movies on a disc or on-the-go.

Elgato’s Eye TV 250 is the big fish in the Mac tuner world. EyeTV 250 Plus delivers free over-the-air digital TV to your Mac in 720p or 1080i HDTV (MPEG-2) and other digital television standards, as well as conventional analog TV via standard cable or antenna. From their website:

EyeTV 250 Plus records digital television in one quality setting, Lossless. The ATSC digital stream is recorded unaltered, and so you’re getting full quality HDTV content as encoded by the broadcaster. EyeTV supports closed captioning and Dolby® Digital sound.

Right now the only way to get HD content on Mac is through an ATSC tuner. Remember, Macs do not have HDCP built into the operating system like Microsoft’s Vista. This means no HD-DVD or Blu-ray for now. Plus, iTunes does not offer HD content. Forget about digital cable tuners and CableCards.

I use an ASTC tuner on my Windows XP machine right now and really enjoy it. Maybe it is time I take the plunge and buy a Mac mini. EyeTV 250 Plus is available immediately for $199 at the Apple Store, as well as through resellers.

(via ehomeupgrade)

Following on the heels of EMI, Universal Music Group has decided to test the DRM-free marketplace. Starting August 21, Universal will offer its most popular music DRM-free as MP3 files. Songs will sell for 99¢ each. This DRM-free music will be available at Amazon, RealNetworks, and retailers such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart.

One notable exception to this experiment is the lack of DRM-free music at the iTunes Music Store. There is no way this is an oversight. Universal has been looking to get out of their current contract with Apple and get more favorable terms, like a portion of iPod sales. Universal is definitely trying to get their point across to Steve Jobs. I think the music industry is beginning to realize that they only way to tame the iTunes juggernaut is to offer DRM-free music at lots of music e-tailers.
DRM-free music is gaining momentum. With the success of Emusic and the Barenaked Ladies, this should come as no surprise. Hopefully the bitrates will begin to increase as well.

I wonder about how legal this software is but Simplify Media answers that question on their website:

Music is streamed friend-to-friend, and only within small, private groups. There are limits to how many friends can be on your Media List and how many listeners can concurrently stream music from your computer. Friends cannot burn remote songs to CDs, transfer them to an iPod or mp3 player, or access them when you are logged off. Links to partner stores let you purchase music you wish to own.

As with all software nowadays, there is a social networking component. SimplifyMedia lets you invite friends placeshift your music as well. Once an invitation is accepted, you will be able to sort, search and play each other’s libraries when online, all within iTunes.

Overall, I think it is a cool idea and am looking forward to their Winamp and Windows Media Player versions.  Hopefully I can stream my Emusic files as well that I have on my home jukebox.

In our head-to-head, we took Vista Ultimate and used a 360 as a Windows Media Extender. With this setup, we came to the conclusion that the hulking white box ekes out the slimmer, shorter Apple TV—unless you have a standard XP computer with Media Center, or copious amounts of Apple iTunes DRM’d content.

I think the Xbox 360 is just starting to tap its potential. One overlooked aspect of the 360 as a media center is the wide library of plugins available. For instance, through the Transcode 360 plugin, the Xbox 360 is able to stream Divx video, something the Apple TV is not capable of doing at all. Plugins allow the Xbox, when connected to a Vista computer, to constantly add new capabilities.

The Xbox 360 and a Vista computer make a formidable combination, especially with the release of digital cable tuners. The Apple TV would be attractive to anyone that purchases large amounts of video from iTunes.

TuneView for iPod provides a new wireless way to manage your music throughout your house or office. TuneView for iPod consists of a universal iPod dock, 2-way RF remote with color LCD screen, a USB power adapter, audio and USB cables, and selected dock adapters. According to the Tuneview website, these components allow you to:

• Connect the iPod to a stereo or powered speakers using the line out jack
• Connect the iPod to a TV using the S-Video jack
• Charge the iPod from an AC outlet using the USB Power Adapter
• Browse and control the iPod from around the house with LCD remote

The TuneView base features S-Video output to a television, and also connects to a computer through USB and to a stereo system. It’s compatible with the iPod mini, iPod nano, fourth-generation iPod and fifth-generation iPod. It comes with a USB power adapter, USB cable and audio cables. It comes with dock adapters to fit certain iPod models.

Tuneview could turn your iPod into an audio server. I think this concept has potential, though the LCD looks pretty small for my tastes. For a price tag of about $180, it rivals the Logitech Wireless DJ and is considerably cheaper than the Sonos music system.